Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks earned the nation’s third-highest combat honor after steering his F-16 flight through a deadly storm of surface-to-air missiles during a high-risk SEAD mission over Yemen.
Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks, former commander of the 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, received the Silver Star Medal for his actions during a March 2025 mission. While the U.S. Air Force did not disclose the operation’s location, the timeline matches known U.S. strikes against Houthi targets. The medal—presented at the Pentagon by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach—honors Parks’ valor and leadership as he led a major strike package into one of the conflict’s most heavily defended areas. He also received a Bronze Star for meritorious service during the same deployment.
According to the Air Force, the mission occurred on March 27, 2025, within U.S. Central Command’s area of operations. Parks served as mission commander for a 21-aircraft package tasked with striking Houthi ballistic missile production sites. Leading a four-ship F-16CM SEAD formation, his role was to suppress and destroy enemy air defenses to enable the follow-on strike aircraft to reach their targets safely.
As the formation entered the engagement zone, multiple surface-to-air missile sites and anti-aircraft guns opened fire. Parks deliberately maneuvered his flight deeper into the threat envelope to shield the rest of the strike package and target the most dangerous air-defense systems. For nearly 15 minutes, his aircraft remained exposed to overlapping radar-guided and infrared threats, with one missile exploding only meters from his F-16. Despite the intense fire, Parks maintained command of the strike force, directing evasive actions, managing countermeasures, and coordinating the movements of supporting aircraft.
At a critical point in the mission, with his formation low on fuel deep in hostile territory, Parks organized an emergency aerial refueling under combat conditions—an action the Air Force says prevented the loss of two jets. Despite the sustained threat and the fuel crisis, the strike package completed its objective, crippling key ballistic-missile infrastructure. The citation emphasizes that Parks’ calm, decisive leadership directly ensured the survival of his wingmen and the mission’s success.
According to the U.S. Air Force, “Parks has been credited with six aerial victories that protected more than 5,000 Sailors aboard the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), and he personally countered five deadly surface-to-air missile engagements directed at his aircraft.”
The 480th EFS, operating from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, deployed as part of a broader U.S. effort to counter an expanding drone and missile threat in the region. During its eight-month rotation, the squadron logged an impressive 108 aerial kills against unmanned aerial systems and cruise missiles. As noted in previous assessments, recent U.S. and allied missions over the Middle East have increasingly resembled high-threat environments of earlier wars—where integrated air defenses, long-range missile launches, and persistent drone attacks create a demanding testbed for modern suppression and strike tactics. These conditions forced frontline units to adapt to the evolving reality of twenty-first-century air warfare. The Aviationist has previously reported that the 480th used a mix of AIM-9M Sidewinders and, notably, AGR-20F laser-guided rockets to engage these threats cost-effectively, saving millions in munitions while developing new air-to-air tactics for drone defense.
F-16s operating in the CENTCOM area have, in fact, been employing APKWS II in the air-to-air role against Houthi projectiles over the Red Sea since 2024. The Air Force first announced testing of APKWS II for air-to-air missions in 2019.
The Silver Star, the U.S. military’s third-highest award for valor, is seldom bestowed within the Air Force. During the ceremony, Gen. Wilsbach emphasized the rarity of the decoration, noting that only a small number have been awarded throughout the service’s history.
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